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Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries and Thailand's Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group are among suitors for the wholesale operations of Germany's Metro AG in India, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter. Such a move could help both groups strengthen their retail portfolios in India — one of the world's largest consumer markets.

Reliance Industries shares rose by as much as Rs 12.8 or 0.5 percent to Rs 2,436 apiece on BSE.

Both Reliance Industries and CP Group are said to have submitted non-binding bids for Metro India, and Amazon is considering lodging an offer, the people said.

A deal could value Metro India at $1-1.2 billion, Bloomberg cited one of the people as saying.

Suitors could be shortlisted for the next round for bidding in August, according to the report.

Metro has been working with advisers on a potential sale of its Indian unit, Metro Cash & Carry India, as part of its strategy to focus on global operations as well as the food and grocery wholesale business.

In June, the industry body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) accused Metro AG of violating FDI regulations in the country by business-to-consumer (B2C) practices in the garb of a business-to-business (B2B) one, a charge denied by the German retailer. CAIT represents more than 40,000 trade associations in India.

ALSO READ: India’s trader body accuses Metro of violating FDI policy

An international specialist in wholesale and food retail, Metro operates in 34 countries. Its wholesale unit, Metro Cash & Carry, entered India in 2003 and currently operates 31 wholesale distribution centers under the brand Metro Wholesale in different parts of the country including Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

In May, the Economic Times had reported that Swiggy was in the race to acquire the wholesale Indian unit of Metro AG.

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